While writing this recipe I experienced my first Nandos; the piri piri plate is hugely popular and some Bristol Rugby players often tweet about visits there. My mates dragged me along and I enjoyed it, but really there’s nothing better than making your own. This recipe uses chicken wings drenched in a yummy homemade piri piri sauce that you can tweak any way you like. Recipe from Barry Lewis‘ new book Dinner’s On.

Whizz the chilli, garlic, juice of 2 lemons, paprika, ginger, sugar and salt together in a food processor until well combined. Taste to make sure you’re happy. You can push the chilli quantities for extreme hotness, if you like! Rinse the chicken wings and pat dry with kitchen paper, then place them in something that will fit in your fridge – with limited space in our fridge a freezer bag works best. Pour the marinade around the wings, massage briefly, then close the bag or cover and leave to marinate for at least 1 hour.

Once ready to cook, preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/Gas mark 7 and brush a lined baking tray with olive oil. Put the chicken on the tray (keeping any leftover marinade), then if you have a lemon half lying about rub that on the chicken. Bake in the oven for about 25–30 minutes. Pour out any oil and top up with the leftover marinade, leaving about 1<00BD> tablespoons for later. Decrease the oven temperature to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/Gas mark 6 and cook for another 20 minutes, flipping the chicken pieces over a few times, until there’s a lovely colour on the outside and they are cooked through. Keep your eye on them. Remove from the oven and leave to rest.

Meanwhile, mix the leftover marinade, melted butter, chopped coriander and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice together. Using a pastry brush, brush a light coating of the mixture over the chicken, then sprinkle with more coriander, if you like.

Serve with Rainbow Coleslaw and potato wedges.

Why not try…
Using other pieces of chicken – marinate in exactly the same way, but adjust the cooking times to suit the particular cut of chicken? Or use prawns or strips of steak on the BBQ?